Contents
- 1 What are the pros and cons of industrial agriculture?
- 2 What is the difference between agriculture and industry?
- 3 What is wrong with industrial agriculture?
- 4 What are the negative effects of industrial agriculture?
- 5 What is meant by industrial agriculture?
- 6 What is an example of industrial agriculture?
- 7 Why is industrial agriculture important?
- 8 What is industrial agriculture AP Human Geography?
- 9 What are the major goals of industrial agriculture?
- 10 How does industrial agriculture impact the environment?
- 11 What caused industrial agriculture?
- 12 How did industrial agriculture start?
- 13 Is industrial agriculture sustainable?
- 14 What is industrial agriculture quizlet?
- 15 Why is industrial agriculture unsustainable?
- 16 What is extensive agriculture?
- 17 What is industrial agriculture?
- 18 How did agriculture contribute to the Industrial Revolution?
- 19 What is organic farming?
- 20 What are the three main goals of sustainable agriculture?
- 21 What are the economic liabilities of industrial agriculture?
- 22 What are the challenges and issues of industrial agriculture?
- 23 How does agriculture affect the environment?
- 24 What is industrial agriculture?
- 25 How has industrial agriculture helped the world?
- 26 How are food systems dependent on fossil fuels?
- 27 What is genetic engineering?
- 28 How have individuals and groups responded to industrial agriculture?
- 29 How does industrial agriculture affect the environment?
- 30 What is the goal of organic farming?
- 31 What is industrial agriculture?
- 32 What are the characteristics of industrial agriculture?
- 33 What is monoculture in agriculture?
- 34 How does industrial agriculture affect the environment?
- 35 What is the biggest problem in agriculture?
- 36 How can we reduce the impact of industrial agriculture?
- 37 Why are mid-sized farms dying?
- 38 What is industrial agriculture?
- 39 How many people do industrial farms feed?
- 40 What was the agricultural revolution?
- 41 Why are antibiotics used in farms?
- 42 Why are artificial methods used in chicken production?
- 43 What is organic farming?
- 44 What are the three main goals of sustainable agriculture?
- 45 What are the benefits of industrial agriculture?
- 46 How does industrial agriculture affect animals?
- 47 How does intensive farming affect the environment?
- 48 Why are bees and birds declining in agriculture?
- 49 What does reduced diversity of crops mean?
- 50 Why are remote sensing and satellite data-based agricultural platforms important?
- 51 Why do industrial agriculture practices make lands weaker?
- 52 What is industrial agriculture?
- 53 Why is industrial agriculture important?
- 54 Why are industrial farms better than traditional farms?
- 55 How has industrialization affected agriculture?
- 56 How does subsistence farming work?
- 57 What is the best ERP system for agribusiness?
- 58 Why are large industrial farms better suited than traditional small to medium farms?
- 59 What were the main crops that were produced by diversified farms?
- 60 What were the most important things about farming in the early 1900s?
- 61 What is a specialized farmer?
- 62 How does specialization help farmers?
- 63 What was the meatpacking plant in Chicago?
- 64 When a small number of companies have a large market share of an industry, the market for that industry is said
- 65 When was nitrogen fertilizer introduced?
- 66 How does industrial farming help?
- 67 How does industrial agriculture affect our health?
- 68 Why do factory farms inject animals with antibiotics?
- 69 What are the pros and cons of industrial agriculture?
- 70 Why are cattle sprayed with pesticides?
- 71 How do factory farms affect the environment?
- 72 Why are factory farms bad?
- 73 Overview
- 74 Historical development and future prospects
- 75 Challenges and issues
- 76 Animals
- 77 Crops
- 78 Sustainable agriculture
- 79 Challenges and Issues
- 80 Animals
- 81 Crops
- 82 Sustainable Agriculture
- 83 See Also
- 84 References
- 85 External Links
Industrial agriculture is the large-scale, intensive production of crops and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of antibiotics in animals (as a way to compensate for filthy conditions, even when the animals are not sick).
What are the pros and cons of industrial agriculture?
· Industrial agriculture is the large-scale, intensive production of crops and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of …
What is the difference between agriculture and industry?
Industrial agriculture is all about controlling nature, curating the land for human use, and choosing which plants are valuable. Although much of biodiversity loss is a secondary result of farming techniques (think: habitat loss or unintended chemical runoff), plants are often eradicated on purpose (think: weeds).
What is wrong with industrial agriculture?
· Beginning in the early 1900s and coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, industrial agriculture is the practice of intensive farming of animals and crops. It is characterized by large-scale monoculture, high levels of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs.
What are the negative effects of industrial agriculture?
· The concept of industrial agriculture implies increased use of farmlands to produce the highest yields possible to gain profit and support human food needs. The maximization is achieved through typical intensive farming practices like increased use of fertilizers, insecticides, abundant irrigation, heavy machinery land treatment, planting high-yield …
What is meant by industrial agriculture?
What Is Industrial Agriculture? Industrial agriculture is the large-scale, intensive production of crops and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of antibiotics in animals (as a way to compensate for filthy conditions, even when the animals are not sick).
What is an example of industrial agriculture?
Industrial agriculture, especially in the central United States, mostly produces commodity crops like corn and soybeans. These crops are used to make the processed foods that dominate the US diet, with serious—and enormously costly—health impacts.
Why is industrial agriculture important?
Industrial agriculture has substantially increased global agricultural productivity, leading to much more food for a growing human population. Industrial agriculture has also impacted human society in a variety of other ways and has had major impacts on the environment, many of which are harmful.
What is industrial agriculture AP Human Geography?
Define “Industrial Agriculture” Industrial agriculture is the current stage of commercial agriculture resulting from the shift of the farm as the center of production to a position just one step in a multiphase industrial process that begins on the farms and ends on the consumers table.
What are the major goals of industrial agriculture?
The major goal of industrialized agriculture is to steadily increase each crop’s yield—- the amount of food produced per unit of land.
How does industrial agriculture impact the environment?
Industrial agriculture harms the environment through pollution of air, soil and water. Air emissions from livestock operations make up 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Conventional crop production degrades soil health and causes soil erosion.
What caused industrial agriculture?
New technology, including chemicals and larger tractors, allowed farmers to work larger areas of land with less labor. Government policies encouraged farmers to scale up their operations. Farmers were also motivated by economies of scale—the economic advantage of producing larger numbers of products.
How did industrial agriculture start?
Industrial agriculture got an early start in the United States. To avoid the laborious task of manuring soils to supply nutrients, inorganic fertilizers, such as superphosphates, came into use as early as the 1840s.
Is industrial agriculture sustainable?
Industrialized agriculture is highly concentrated and mechanized, relying on chemical inputs like fertilizers, pesticides and non-therapeutic antibiotics. However, sustainable agriculture, which uses methods that protect the environment, public health, human communities and animal welfare, is gaining traction.
What is industrial agriculture quizlet?
industrial agriculture. Agriculture that applies the techniques of mechanization and standardization. … Benefits: it develops simple farming to an intensive method modern equipment, tools, structures and techniques.
Why is industrial agriculture unsustainable?
The industrial agriculture system consumes fossil fuel, water, and topsoil at unsustainable rates. It contributes to numerous forms of environmental degradation, including air and water pollution, soil depletion, diminishing biodiversity, and fish die-offs.
What is extensive agriculture?
extensive agriculture, in agricultural economics, system of crop cultivation using small amounts of labour and capital in relation to area of land being farmed. The crop yield in extensive agriculture depends primarily on the natural fertility of the soil, the terrain, the climate, and the availability of water.
What is industrial agriculture?
v. t. e. Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies …
How did agriculture contribute to the Industrial Revolution?
Industrial agriculture arose hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution in general. The identification of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus (referred to by the acronym NPK) as critical factors in plant growth led to the manufacture of synthetic fertilizers, making possible more intensive types of agriculture. The discovery of vitamins and their role in animal nutrition, in the first two decades of the 20th century, led to vitamin supplements, which in the 1920s allowed certain livestock to be raised indoors, reducing their exposure to adverse natural elements. The discovery of antibiotics and vaccines facilitated raising livestock in concentrated, controlled animal feed operations by reducing diseases caused by crowding. Chemicals developed for use in World War II gave rise to synthetic pesticides. Developments in shipping networks and technology have made long-distance distribution of agricultural produce feasible.
What is organic farming?
Organic farming methods combine some aspects of scientific knowledge and highly limited modern technology with traditional farming practices; accepting some of the methods of industrial agriculture while rejecting others. Organic methods rely on naturally occurring biological processes, which often take place over extended periods of time, and a holistic approach; while chemical-based farming focuses on immediate, isolated effects and reductionist strategies.
What are the three main goals of sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability , and prosperous farming communities .
What are the economic liabilities of industrial agriculture?
Economic liabilities for industrial agriculture include the dependence on finite non-renewable fossil fuel energy resources, as an input in farm mechanization (equipment, machinery), for food processing and transportation, and as an input in agricultural chemicals.
What are the challenges and issues of industrial agriculture?
The challenges and issues of industrial agriculture for global and local society, for the industrial agriculture sector, for the individual industrial agriculture farm, and for animal rights include the costs and benefits of both current practices and proposed changes to those practices.
How does agriculture affect the environment?
Industrial agriculture uses huge amounts of water, energy, and industrial chemicals; increasing pollution in the arable land, usable water and atmosphere. Herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, and animal waste products are accumulating in ground and surface waters.
What is industrial agriculture?
Industrial agriculture is all about controlling nature, curating the land for human use, and choosing which plants are valuable. Although much of biodiversity loss is a secondary result of farming techniques (think: habitat loss or unintended chemical runoff), plants are often eradicated on purpose (think: weeds).
How has industrial agriculture helped the world?
Industrial agriculture has had great success in producing abundant, low-cost food. World hunger has been declining for decades, and food production per capita has increased sharply since the 1960s. But this success has come with costs that raise questions about the sustainability and the unintended effects of the global “rationalization” …
How are food systems dependent on fossil fuels?
Industrial agriculture and food systems are largely dependent on fossil fuels for the production of food by way of machinery and mechanization, agrichemicals, transportation, food processing, food packaging, assimilating waste, etc . (Shiva et al., 2017; Neff et al., 2011 ). In the United States, fossil fuel and the energy used by the food system is substantial ( Canning et al., 2017 ). The energy used for food accounted for over half of the total increased energy use in the United States between 1997 and 2002 ( Canning et al., 2017 ). In an era where oil reserves will dip and extracting new resources is not only expensive but also has a detrimental impact on the natural environment, reducing energy use by food systems is imperative ( Neff et al., 2011 ).
What is genetic engineering?
Genetic engineering techniques have been introduced to create proprietary plant cultivars with desirable new characteristics. However, it is not clear that this new technology can substantially reduce industrial agriculture’s negative ecological impacts or solve its pressing problems of economic viability.
How have individuals and groups responded to industrial agriculture?
Individuals and groups have responded to industrial agriculture by using their purchasing power to support sources of locally grown food. One manifestation is ‘community-supported agriculture’ (CSA), in which individuals purchase ‘shares’ in a particular farm’s annual crop.
How does industrial agriculture affect the environment?
Side effects of industrial agriculture include soil erosion, water pollution from inorganic fertilizer and pesticides, simplification of ecosystems, consolidation of small farms into large ones, and shipment of food over long distances requiring both energy and time. Individuals and groups have responded to industrial agriculture by using their purchasing power to support sources of locally grown food. One manifestation is ‘community-supported agriculture’ (CSA), in which individuals purchase ‘shares’ in a particular farm’s annual crop. Each week during the growing season, each shareholder is entitled to a basket of produce from the CSA farm they support. Groups like the Food Trust (Philadelphia, Pa.) have pioneered CSAs and other innovations include local farmers’ markets, urban community gardens and farms, schoolyard gardens, and farm-to-school and farm-to-campus programs that provide students with locally grown food while offering local farms a reliable market for their crops. Despite the great wealth of the United States, hunger and malnutrition remain widespread. Groups such as the National Food Security Coalition (Portland, Ore.) are developing food security coalitions and food policy councils around the country, aiming to make sure everyone has access to reasonably priced local food, particularly in areas considered, ‘food deserts’ where there are few or no grocery stores. Local organizations such as the Food Project (Lincoln, Mass.) and Isles (Trenton, N.J.) bring healthy, locally grown food into low-income communities by training and engaging young people in techniques of sustainable agriculture. Around the country, other groups such as Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (Athens, Ohio) are providing commercial-scale kitchens and business incubators to spur locally based food businesses that rely on locally grown food.
What is the goal of organic farming?
As time passed, the organic farming movement shifted into a ‘sustainable agriculture’ movement with three goals: farming practices compatible with natural systems, using organic fertilizers and few or no chemical pesticides; achieving food security, emphasizing locally grown foods; and maintaining rural economies that could sustain, and be sustained by, relatively small-scale farms.
What is industrial agriculture?
Beginning in the early 1900s and coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, industrial agriculture is the practice of intensive farming of animals and crops. It is characterized by large-scale monoculture, high levels of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs.
What are the characteristics of industrial agriculture?
Abuse is perhaps the defining characteristic of industrial agriculture and is present at all levels of these operations. Animal abuse is one of the most obvious, despite being hidden behind picturesque marketing materials and “humane” labels, which are doled out liberally and use woefully insufficient guidelines. Abuse of people is common within this industry as well. Workers in slaughterhouses have been known to develop debilitating mental conditions including PTSD, and are routinely exposed to a number of potentially fatal hazards. Field workers are among the most oppressed of any workers in the US and are vulnerable to human trafficking, assault from superiors, and other horrors.
What is monoculture in agriculture?
Monocultures, also known as monocropping, involves huge swaths of land dedicated to a single crop. Wheat, corn, and soy are major crops in the United States. Monocropping is highly unnatural and depletes the soil at unsustainable rates, leading to heavy application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which cause problems of their own.
How does industrial agriculture affect the environment?
Industrial agriculture produces numerous negative environmental impacts. Pasture land for grazing cattle and other domesticated animals is destroying ecosystems. Thousands of acres in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, home to numerous Indigenous nations and referred to as the lungs of the planet, are being burned and cleared to make way for cows to produce meat—much of which is destined for American markets.
What is the biggest problem in agriculture?
The abusive acts on these factory farms are what defines animal agriculture. In Diamond’s opinion, this is the biggest problem in agriculture. Animal abuse can be diminished to a significant degree by giving up animal products from one’s diet where possible, as well as getting involved in the social movement to transform our farming system. However, doing so may come at greater costs or may be impossible for some, since access to plant-based foods can be a privilege.
How can we reduce the impact of industrial agriculture?
Cutting animal products out of your diet is the best way you can help reduce the impacts of industrial agriculture. Not only are animals themselves harmed by the process of industrial farming, but it is incredibly resource-intensive to raise animals and keep them alive, requiring huge amounts of water and feed.
Why are mid-sized farms dying?
They then overproduce, which lowers the prices and squeezes out smaller operations which are mostly operating on thin margins to begin with. Combined with political influence, including lobbying efforts to pass legislation favorable to industrial players, and ultra-low interest rates on loans to expand their operations, they soon become the only player in town.
What is industrial agriculture?
Weed control. Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. The methods of industrial agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political.
How many people do industrial farms feed?
Today industrial agriculture feeds 6000 million people. An example of industrial agriculture providing cheap and plentiful food is the U.S.’s “most successful program of agricultural development of any country in the world.”.
What was the agricultural revolution?
The British agricultural revolution describes a period of agricultural development in Britain between the 16th century and the mid-19th century, which saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the Industrial Revolution. How this came about is not entirely clear. In recent decades, historians cited four key changes in agricultural practices, enclosure, mechanization, four-field crop rotation, and selective breeding, and gave credit to a relatively few individuals.
Why are antibiotics used in farms?
One particular problem with farms on which animals are intensively reared is the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Because large numbers of animals are confined in a small space, any disease would spread quickly, and so antibiotics are used preventively. A small percentage of bacteria are not killed by the drugs, which may infect human beings if it becomes airborne.
Why are artificial methods used in chicken production?
Food and water is supplied in place, and artificial methods are often employed to maintain animal health and improve production, such as therapeutic use of antimicrobial agents, vitamin supplements and growth hormones. Growth hormones are no longer used in chicken meat production nor are they used in the European Union for any animal after studies in 2002 determined the health hazards from use of growth hormones in food. In meat production, methods are also sometimes employed to control undesirable behaviors often related to stresses of being confined in restricted areas with other animals. More docile breeds are sought (with natural dominant behaviors bred out for example), physical restraints to stop interaction, such as individual cages for chickens, or animals physically modified, such as the de-beaking of chickens to reduce the harm of fighting. Weight gain is encouraged by the provision of plentiful supplies of food to animals breed for weight gain.
What is organic farming?
Organic farming methods combine some aspects of scientific knowledge and highly limited modern technology with traditional farming practices; accepting some of the methods of industrial agriculture while rejecting others. Organic methods rely on naturally occurring biological processes, which often take place over extended periods of time, and a holistic approach; while chemical-based farming focuses on immediate, isolated effects and reductionist strategies.
What are the three main goals of sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability , and prosperous farming communities .
What are the benefits of industrial agriculture?
Benefits Of Industrial Agriculture. The main advantage of intensive farming is its increased performance when higher yields are harvested from smaller territories. This brings economic benefits to landowners and provides food for the growing population. Intensive agriculture fully satisfies the market demand even in densely inhabited areas.
How does industrial agriculture affect animals?
Apart from the expansion of new territories when wildlife loses its natural habitation areas, animals are greatly affected by chemical applications in industrial agriculture. While herbicides pollute natural resources, pesticides are rarely selective and kill beneficial species as well, like pollinators and soil-dwelling microorganisms contributing to its fertility. Recent researches report decreased farmland bird and bee populations due to heavy insecticides in industrial agriculture, being a significant threat to further farming business and ecology in general. Hormones mitigating plant diseases are another harmful issue of intensive farming.
How does intensive farming affect the environment?
Intensive farming causes environment pollution and induces major health issues due to poisonous agents. In this regard, the impacts of industrial agriculture require serious attention and management of risks.
Why are bees and birds declining in agriculture?
Recent researches report decreased farmland bird and bee populations due to heavy insecticides in industrial agriculture , being a significant threat to further farming business and ecology in general. Hormones mitigating plant diseases are another harmful issue of intensive farming.
What does reduced diversity of crops mean?
Furthermore, reduced diversity of crops due to this fundamental industrial agriculture practice means better pest establishment and development of their resistance to controls applied. This results in extreme use of chemicals (often critical to humans and nature) and stronger option introductions.
Why are remote sensing and satellite data-based agricultural platforms important?
Remote sensing and satellite data-based agricultural platforms are greatly helpful to industrial agriculture supporters, too. They enable farmers to reduce chemical allocations only to affected areas.
Why do industrial agriculture practices make lands weaker?
So, strong industrial agriculture practices make lands weaker as they significantly interfere with natural soil processes.
What is industrial agriculture?
In this type of agriculture, the focus is mainly on maximizing the yield of fewer types of crops for more sales and greater profits, instead of diversification of the crops. The crops grown using industrial agriculture is meant to feed the masses and ensure food security across the world.
Why is industrial agriculture important?
The crops grown using industrial agriculture is meant to feed the masses and ensure food security across the world. The use of chemicals, mechanized tools, and other advanced technology are some of the reasons why industrial agriculture is able to produce massive quantities of food from farms.
Why are industrial farms better than traditional farms?
Apart from increasing the crop yield, large industrialized farms are also better suited to lower the cost of production, making food more accessible for the masses even at the lower income levels. The use of modern machinery and technology for various agriculture processes makes industrial farming more cost-effective for farmers, which in turn lowers the overall cost of the produce for the end consumers.
How has industrialization affected agriculture?
However, on the other hand, the industrialization of agriculture has wreaked havoc on the natural resources; depleting the soil of nutrients and destroyed water reservoirs & marine animals. While it is certainly efficient to continue feeding the growing population of the world, it’s inherently unsustainable and brings more damage to the environment.
How does subsistence farming work?
Subsistence agriculture is heavily dependent on manual labor with all the harvesting and cultivation activities being done by humans or animals using simple hand tools to work the lands. This type of agriculture also doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, rather age-old proven natural techniques are used to deal with the fertility of infestation problems. Most of the farmers practicing subsistence agriculture also have poultry, and livestock, manure from which is used as natural fertilizers for the crops. The crop yield is primarily used to meet the family food requirement, as well as, to feed the livestock. Any surplus food is then supplied to local families or in the local market.
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Why are large industrial farms better suited than traditional small to medium farms?
Large industrial farms are better suited than traditional small to medium farms for mechanized agriculture practices, which directly results in higher yields of crops, which has been the basic driving purpose of the industrialization efforts since the 1950s, to ensure food security of a rapidly growing global population.
What were the main crops that were produced by diversified farms?
Diversified farms gave way to genetically uniform monocultures—fields planted with just one crop species at a time, such as corn, wheat, or soy, over a very large area. Meat, milk, and egg production became largely separated from crop production and involved facilities that housed a single breed of animal, during a particular period of its lifespan, for a single purpose (e.g., breeding, feeding, or slaughter). Farmers, once skilled in a breadth of trades, fell into more specialized roles.
What were the most important things about farming in the early 1900s?
In the early 1900s, more than half of Americans were either farmers or lived in rural communities. 1 Most U.S. farms were diversified, meaning they produced a variety of crops and animal species together on the same farm, in complementary ways. 2 Farmers were skilled in a wide range of trades and had autonomy over how to manage their crops and animals. Animals were typically raised with access to the outdoors. Most of the work on the farm was done by human or animal labor.
What is a specialized farmer?
Specialized farmers, by contrast, can focus all their knowledge, skills, and equipment on one or two enterprises, such as growing corn and soy, or fattening beef cattle. Over the course of industrialization, specialization was applied to nearly all facets of food production. Diversified farms gave way to genetically uniform monocultures—fields …
How does specialization help farmers?
Specialization aims to increase efficiency by narrowing the range of tasks and roles involved in production. A diversified farmer, for example, might need to manage and care for many different vegetable crops, a composting operation, a flock of egg-laying hens, a sow, and her litter of piglets. Specialized farmers, by contrast, can focus all their knowledge, skills, and equipment on one or two enterprises, such as growing corn and soy, or fattening beef cattle. Over the course of industrialization, specialization was applied to nearly all facets of food production.
What was the meatpacking plant in Chicago?
The meatpacking plant of Chicago’s Union Stockyards was a sprawling facility that handled the slaughter, processing, packaging, and distribution of cattle and swine. In operation by 1865, it was among the earliest U.S. businesses to exemplify the industrial model, setting precedents other industries would follow.
When a small number of companies have a large market share of an industry, the market for that industry is said to be concentrated. Markets become more concentrated when companies take over, or merge with, their competitors.
When was nitrogen fertilizer introduced?
Fertilizer applications on U.S. crops, 1964–92. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, introduced in the early 1900s, have been credited with feeding the lion’s share of a global population that grew from 1.6 to 6 billion over the 20 th century.
How does industrial farming help?
Industrial farms are also helpful in reducing food costs and making food more accessible, even for consumers who have lower incomes. Industrial agriculture uses modern technology and equipment to process meat, eggs, milk, crops, and other food items in a quick and efficient way, reducing their overhead expenses while earning more revenue …
How does industrial agriculture affect our health?
It contributes to health problems. Industrial agriculture can be detrimental to our health in a few ways. One is through the pollution it produces, which is harmful to those who live nearby and makes them susceptible to illnesses.
Why do factory farms inject animals with antibiotics?
Factory farms inject their animals with antibiotics that are supposed to prevent them from getting sick in the unsanitary conditions they are kept in. However, bacteria can mutate and develop into illnesses that can’t be treated by antibiotics, and these illnesses are then transmitted to people who eat them. In addition to pesticide poisoning and animal-borne illnesses, the stressful environments in which animals are kept result in poor food quality as well.
What are the pros and cons of industrial agriculture?
Pros of Industrial Agriculture. 1. It increases food production. Large-scale industrial farms have an advantage over traditional farms when it comes to producing food fast and in larger amounts. This could be a good thing, considering that the world’s population continues to grow steadily. 2.
Why are cattle sprayed with pesticides?
Cattle, poultry, pigs, and other types of livestock are kept in controlled conditions that encourage rapid reproduction and weight gain, while food crops are sprayed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides to promote growth and eliminate insects and other organisms that could destroy them. There are some people—investors …
How do factory farms affect the environment?
These animals produce an overwhelming amount of waste and byproducts that are often dumped into nearby bodies of water, polluting them. The waste produced can even pollute the air, damage the ozone layer, and spread to the surrounding land, rivers, and streams.
Why are factory farms bad?
1. It increases the risk of animal cruelty. Factory farms keep animals in tight, confined areas where they don’t have the space to roam free and do what animals naturally do. In some cases, animals are kept in cages where they can’t move around at all.
Overview
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scalein production, the creation of new markets for consumption, the applicati…
Historical development and future prospects
Industrial agriculture arose hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution in general. The identification of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus (referred to by the acronym NPK) as critical factors in plant growth led to the manufacture of synthetic fertilizers, making possible more intensive types of agriculture. The discovery of vitamins and their role in animal nutrition, in the first two decades of the 20th century, led to vitamin supplements, which in the 1920s allowed certain livestock to be …
Challenges and issues
The challenges and issues of industrial agriculture for global and local society, for the industrial agriculture sector, for the individual industrial agriculture farm, and for animal rights include the costs and benefits of both current practices and proposed changes to those practices. This is a continuation of thousands of years of the invention and use of technologies in feeding ever growing populations.
Animals
“Concentrated animal feeding operations” or “intensive livestock operations”, can hold large numbers (some up to hundreds of thousands) of animals, often indoors. These animals are typically cows, hogs, turkeys, or chickens. The distinctive characteristics of such farms is the concentration of livestock in a given space. The aim of the operation is to produce as much meat, eggs, or milk at the lowest possible cost and with the greatest level of food safety.
Crops
The projects within the Green Revolution spread technologies that had already existed, but had not been widely used outside of industrialized nations. These technologies included pesticides, irrigation projects, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
The novel technological development of the Green Revolution was the production of what some referred to as “miracle seeds.” Scientists created strains of maize, wheat, and ricethat are generall…
Sustainable agriculture
The idea and practice of sustainable agriculture has arisen in response to the problems of industrial agriculture. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. These goals have been defined by a variety of disciplines and may be looked at from the vantage point of the farmer or the consumer.
Challenges and Issues
-
The challenges and issues of industrial agriculture for global and local society, for the industrial agriculture industry, for the individual industrial agriculture farm, and for animal rights include the costs and benefits of both current practices and proposed changes to those practices. Current industrial agriculture practices are temporarily increasing the carrying capacity of the Earth for h…
Animals
-
“Confined animal feeding operations” or “intensive livestock operations” or “factory farms,” can hold large numbers (some up to hundreds of thousands) of animals, often indoors. These animals are typically cows, hogs, turkeys, or chickens. The distinctive characteristics of such farms is the concentration of livestock in a given space. The aim of the operation is to produce as much mea…
Crops
-
The projects within the Green Revolution spread technologies that had already existed, but had not been widely used outside of industrialized nations. These technologies included pesticides, irrigation projects, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. The novel technological development of the Green Revolution was the production of what some referred to as “miracle seeds.” Scientists cre…
Sustainable Agriculture
-
The idea and practice of sustainable agriculture has arisen in response to the problems of industrial agriculture. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. These goals have been defined by a variety of disciplines and may be looked at from the vantage poi…
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See Also
- Agriculture
- Fish
- Genetic engineering
- History of agriculture
References
- Goodland, Robert, Herman E. Daly, and Salah El Serafy (eds.). Population, Technology, and Lifestyle: The Transition To Sustainability. Island Press, 1992. ISBN 1559631996
- Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage. London, UK; Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. ISBN 9780131828520.
- Nierenberg, Danielle. State of the world 2006: a Worldwatch Institute report on progress towa…
- Goodland, Robert, Herman E. Daly, and Salah El Serafy (eds.). Population, Technology, and Lifestyle: The Transition To Sustainability. Island Press, 1992. ISBN 1559631996
- Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage. London, UK; Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. ISBN 9780131828520.
- Nierenberg, Danielle. State of the world 2006: a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society. New York, NY; London, UK: W.W. Norton, 2006. ISBN 9780393327717.
- Scully, Matthew. Dominion: the power of man, the suffering of animals, and the call to mercy. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2002. ISBN 9780312319731.
External Links
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All links retrieved March 2, 2018. 1. Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, Independent commission studying the effects of intensive animal production. 2. Large-Scale Dairies and Their Neighbors: A Case Study of the Perceived Risk in Two Counties Journal of Extension. 3. American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm and Ranchers association. 4. Purdue Univ…